January 09, 2011

I used to work in a very large manufacturing environment. We made these:

We sometimes made as many as 5,000 in a day. I was in charge of the departments that made all of the orange parts that you see and a lot of the parts that you don't see. Like lawnmower blades. From memory, we made about 7 million blades a year. About half of those went on lawn mowers and the other half went to Sears stores to be sold as replacement parts. I tried to keep our blades under $1.50 and we did that by constantly haggling with our steel suppliers for better pricing, trying to keep the number of employees in the department to a minimum and trying to constantly improve the process for making blades. We actually sold more blades than we were able to make so I had to buy as many as 2 million blades a year from a company called Fisher Barton to help us meet our demands. These would often sit around our plant as inventory until we needed them.

The blade department was very important for obvious reasons. The entire mower is built around the work that the actual blade does, cutting grass. But, as I mentioned, only half of the blades ended up on a lawn mower. The others were sold as replacement parts. I made the blades at a cost of $1.50 to our plant but we then sold them to Sears at a cost of around $5.00 each. That is 3.5 million blades per year at a profit of $3.50 per blade. That comes to over 12 million dollars in profit for our company from this one little department of about 80 people. Don't feel too sorry for Sears. They sell each blade for around $16.00 each. Welcome to the Free Market!

Inventory is a very big deal in large manufacturing plants. Often, sales are greater than the manufacturers ability to make product. For example, if Sears sells 8,000 tractors a day, and we can only make 5,000 tractors a day, that's a problem. If we make a tractor for a total cost to our company of $1,200.00 dollars and Sears sells that mower for $3,000.00 dollars, we and they are losing a lot of potential money. Luckily, Sears has a "selling season" for Outdoor Products and that season for Lawn Mowers is, strangely enough, the same season that grass grows. Doh? The rest of the year, they don't purchase anywhere near as many mowers.

So Sears doesn't sell 8,000 tractors every day of the year but every day of the "grass growing" season. The goal of every manufacturer is to "make to order". In other words, if Sears orders 8,000 tractors on a Tuesday, we would like to make and deliver 8,000 tractors on Wednesday but we can't, as I stated. That's over simplified but will do for whatever the heck I am trying to explain and what I am trying to explain is the roll of inventory.

In our situation, we also had days(many days) when Sears might only order 120 lawn mowers. On those days, we might make 2,000 lawn mowers but ship only the 120. The rest we would put in inventory and there they would sit until Sears began ordering more tractors than we could produce in a single day. When orders surpassed our ability to "make to order", we would begin to pull tractors that we made 6 months earlier out of inventory to be shipped with whatever we had actually made that day. So if Sears ordered 6,500 tractors that day, we would make 5,000 and pull the remaining 1,500 from inventory to complete the order.

Voice in my head: UUUhhhh, Joe?

Me: Uuhh, yeah?

Voice: This is all very interesting, sorta, but where's Jesus?

Me: He's in our hearts, silly.

So to mask our inefficiencies, we filled warehouses all over the Southeast, with extra lawnmowers (inventory). One year, we had over 140,000 lawnmowers stashed in warehouses, awaiting the springtime and the frenzied buying of lawnmowers. So inventory is good, if you can afford it and if it is the only way to meet orders but it is very bad for other reasons. It costs a lot of money to lease those warehouses and to hire a crew to run them. And it cost us, let's just say, $1,200.00 dollars to make each mower. That's fine, if you are going to be paid for them that month but for these mowers, that wasn't the case. And so for these 140,000 in the warehouse, that represents $168,000,000 dollars that our company has paid out for materials to make the lawn mowers, employee salaries, etc. without a single cent coming in. That is 168 million dollars folks. And that is zero of what they call "cash flow". Cash was flowing out but not flowing in. That's scary for the rich guys up front also because the tax man charges you for potential income represented by "finished goods" in inventory as well as actual income from actual sales. Got all that? GOOD!

Now the inefficiencies that prevented us from being able to keep up with sales were not honest inefficiencies. By that I mean that all the machines and all the employees and all the suppliers and all of management didn't perform the way they were supposed to. If they had, all the time, we would have always been able to meet our daily customer demands and would never have had any need for inventory. So what inventory really did was hide our faults or at least protect us from the consequences of our faults. But at an incredible cost. And what was worse, in the long run, because sales were usually so good, we didn't really ever pay attention to the faults. Eventually, as a company, we didn't even realize they were there. We always got away with it because the money would finally roll in and our faults were forgotten, even though it costs us millions of dollars in potential profits. It sorta looked like this:

Inventory raised our company above all of our problems. They were still there, though, just waiting for a drought in the Southeast or a recession to have a drastic effect on our sales and guess what? That is just what happened. As a result of us not taking care of our problems, when the crash came, thousands of people lost their jobs. Not just at our plant but at the plants of our hundreds of suppliers. If we had been better stewards with our riches, in this case holding less inventory, we would have exposed our problems and fixed them. It may have been a painful lesson in the short run but would have paid major dividends in the long run.

And personal riches are like this also:

Ist Timothy 6:9-11- People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Now it doesn't say money is the root but that the LOVE of money is the root. That means that anyone from beggars to billionaires can be guilty. I am somewhere in there and I have been hugely guilty here. And our country is hugely guilty here. But what I am talking about here is the effect personal riches has on hiding our sins; our ongoing, life dominating sins. Riches make us feel secure and feeling secure is not the best place to be if we are going to feel a need for Jesus, who is the one who corrects our sinful behaviors.

Jed's marriage is in trouble because he is having an affair. His self esteem needs a shot of confidence because he is not able, in his mind, to provide the way he wants to for his family. And his wife knows but almost doesn't care because life is so boring with this man. And together, they use credit cards to try to make life cozy and keep up with the Jones but the credit debt soars to tens of thousands of dollars. So there are sins of lust, adultery, envy, etc. destroying this family but at least these sins can be seen.

But then one evening, he's out hunting for wabbits in his back yard. He shoots at one and suddenly he sees oil bubbling out of the ground. Black Gold. Texas Tea. Next thing you know, Jed's a millionaire. Suddenly life is grand. Suddenly Jed feels more manly and doesn't need another woman to prove it. He never admits his sin but the wife doesn't care. This man is suddenly very interesting what with eating and shopping here and traveling and vacationing there. And that awful debt that was weighing them down? Well, Jed could pay most of it back this year but he'll get to that later. What a wonderful life!!

But who is Jed? Is he the man he was when he was poor? Or the man he is now, when he is rich? Well, he is both. He is a rich man who is very poor. He could have been a poor man who was very rich. And then when earthly riches came, who knows what kind of things could have happened.

Revelation 3:15-18- I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

It isn't a coincidence that this church is earthly rich and is described by Jesus as lukewarm. Many very respected Biblical scholars believe that the 7 letters to the 7 churches found in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation are not only actual letters to actual churches of that day but they also are meant(by the writer and Jesus) to describe the positives and negatives of the seven church ages that began after the Cross. And you guessed it, this "Lukewarm" letter is from the seventh letter that would represent the last church age which these same scholars believe we are currently living in. Now whether you believe this 7 church ages theology is true or not really doesn't matter. I don't even know if I do or not. But I think that it is imperative that we understand the churches today(the people in it) are very rich for the most part but it is also very lukewarm, for the most part. And it has blinded us to the actual fact that we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked or so says Jesus in Revelation. Exhibit A:

The Chrystal Cathedral is the church started by the Godfather of the Self Esteem Gospel, Robert Schuller. They are currently in default on 55 million dollars worth of loans, they've laid off over 50 employees and the family has split over disagreements concerning church governance. In retrospect, maybe a big ole tent would have been the way to go. There I go, being judgmental again. All I am trying to do, with the whole money thing, is ask you to be careful. Spiritually, wealth does nothing for you and it may actually hide our sins and our character flaws that are more exposed when money is not lifting us "above it all". It can be just a part of this overall darkness that Jesus is constantly warning us about and telling us that we don't comprehend.

Would just like to add two things before I go. First, Jed isn't me but a conglomeration (a WHAT!?) of things I've heard over many years. And second, no wabbits were harmed during the writing of this blog post.

January 08, 2011

I love my church. If you are in the Anderson area and are looking for a church home, try the Carpenter's Church.

Favorite picture of the week:

I'm in the mood to sing a song. Let's all sing I Surrender All together. OK? Let's do it!!

And a one and a two and a THREE:

All to Jesus I surrender; All to him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all:

All to the thee, my b-HOLD IT! HOOOLD IT!!

Me: Pardon me, everyone, for the rude interruption. Voice in my head, can I help you? We're kinda busy.

Voice in my Head: UUhhhhhh, yeah. Sorry about that. Gotta a question that is pertinent to us singing this here song. It's very perty by the way. Tell all the peeps they got real nice singin' voices.

Me: They can hear you..Uh, read you..WHATEVER! Is there a question, maybe, that you could hurry the heck up and ask?

Voice: OH?!..Uhh, yeah. I was wondering, is there like in the Apostles Creed or like a special Dispensation of Indulgence form the Pope that states that it is ok to lie, as long as we are, like, singing or something like that?

Me: No, I wouldn't think so.

Voice: Well then, the choir just lost a beautiful Tenor voice.

Me: Beautiful? I think we'll be ok. We're going to continue now...And a one and a two and a THREE..

Jesus has lots of qualifiers. If you love me, you'll do what I say. If you remain in me, you will bear much fruit. Qualifiers usually begin with "if". If you lift weights, you will get stronger. If this happens, that will happen. If this doesn't happen, that won't happen. Jesus communicates very clearly because He loves you. He really wants you to "get it". Jesus is not misunderstood because He is unclear, yet He is incredibly misunderstood. Why is that?

Verse 7-If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. If I remain in Jesus, I am probably not going to ask for a Rolls Royce. If I remain in Jesus, I am probably not going to ask for Clemson to go 12-0 in football. However, I am still researching that one. God wants us here or at least headed in the following direction:

Philipians 2:5-8- Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Verse 8 sheds light on verse 7. God wants you bearing much Christian fruit. It glorifies Him, when we prove by our acts, that we are Jesus' disciples. It also draws more disciples to Him.

Verse 10- Gosh. Just read it. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT!! The next verse says it all. Take His advise and you will experience complete joy. More joy than your baby's face ever gave you. Or your spouse's love and trust. Or your team winning. Do you know this Joy?

Verses 12 thru 14- Love each other as I have loved you. And how have I loved you or how am I getting ready to love you? I am going to die a horrible, painful death for you. I want you to be able to do that too. Jesus' dies for His friends. He wants us all to be His friend so that His death is for us too. But most will not except His friendship because of verse 14.

Verses 18 thru 27- (Jesus speaking) If the worlds hates you because you tell them that I am the only way to heaven, the only truth(John 14:6), remember that you are only repeating my words. I said it first. You (my 12 disciples) will all experience great torture and persecution. Eleven of you will be murdered because of me but remember, they did these things to me first. They are killing you because they hate me. They are whipping and stoning you because they hate me. (Jesus still speaking) And you, my modern day disciples, they make fun of you because they don't believe in me. They will think you are hateful and intolerant because they have misunderstood me. You will be hated and misunderstood and laughed at because of me. Family may even reject you because they reject me. And it may get much worse before it gets better but OOOhhh it will get much better. So hang in there, my dear friends. I love you.

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command.15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.17 This is my command: Love each other.18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.20Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.23 He who hates me hates my Father as well.24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

This is the story behind the song that Shaunte' and the Praise crew at Carpenter's do best of all.

January 06, 2011

Tonight's post is the 200th in the history of Cup A Joe. The first one was in May of '07. That's insane.

God the gardener- Verse 2- He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. In other words, their are people that claim the name of Christ, but their actions beg to differ. An orange tree bears oranges and if that orange tree bears anything but oranges, it's not an orange tree. A true Christian bears Christian fruit or he's not a true Christian. We are so far into this study that I don't remember if I have given you the following example or not. Never the less, it's a good one. It's from one of my favorite pastors, Chuck Smith. I am rewriting it from memory but I think I can still remember the gist:

(Chuck speaking to audience)- If I were to stand up here, very calmly, and begin to tell you that there was a bomb under the alter that was set to go off in 5 minutes, you would pay very close attention to my next actions and words to see if I really believed that. If I was smiling and joking and asking what kind of mad man would do such a thing but didn't seem alarmed, you would question if I really believed what I was saying. However, if I started screaming and yelling about a bomb and running up and down the aisles trying to get everyone out of here, you would know that I believed there was a bomb. In the case of this bomb, my actions would show what I truly believed. The same is true of a professed belief in Christ. My actions trump any of my words, in showing whether I am truly a believer or not.

James 2:18-19- But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

But there is terrific news in the second part of verse 2. Those of us that do begin to bear Christian fruit, God is going to prune some of our leaves that are dying and don't need to be there, so that we will grow in Christian maturity. We will then be able to bear more fruit. We have sharp edges that need to be rounded and smoothed. We need to feel the suffering of others a little more. We need to have a little more courage to confront a bully. Or may be less of a temper before confronting a bully. Or a love for the bully. Or maybe we need to be a little more color blind. Or need to pray more. If you are "in the vine", Jesus will continue to make you a better man(or woman). That's very exciting but let's all say it together:

Ouch!!

Verse 5- Another of my top ten verses. A truly great and deep verse. The pro football playoffs have started. All I hear is that what happened during the season doesn't matter, now. And the team that wins the championship will say that nothing that happened in the season matters, now that we have this trophy. All anyone will remember in the future was that we were the champs in 2011. They want even remember who finished second because all that matters to the professionals, is the championship. And all the 31 other teams would agree that nothing we did this year matters, because we didn't "win it all."

It's hard to think this way but Albert Einstein did nothing..nothing that matters. And He would dearly love to tell you that himself. He was maybe the smartest man ever, a man of great accomplishment but he would tell you now that none of it mattered because he was not "grafted into the vine." That is, he did not believe in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world. The same goes for Ghandi, Charles Lindbergh or Buddha. None believed in Jesus as Savior so, for them, all there accomplishments were nothing.

We live in the "time box". Our time is limited. We will all die one day and time will be over for us. We will pass into eternity and that has no ending. The Bible says that the earth will burn away one day and Jesus says that even the things we accomplished, if they weren't motivated or if they didn't flow from a relationship with Him, they too will burn away. They will become nothing.

Matthew 7:21-23- "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Pretty tough stuff, huh? Don't be fooled by a lamb holding, peaceful savior that accepts any old idea about who He is. This is one tough dude, this Jesus. He fought hard to provide THE way for us to get to heaven but He is a man of His word when He says that He is the only way.

Sorry so rough tonight. Jesus is relentless in His pursuit of us. I know that some of you are going through some pruning in life right now. I am too. What a great Savior that He sees something worth pruning in us. Do you love Him?

Only six verses tonight but it is a short chapter. I will finish tomorrow night.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

The following music video is beautiful but what I like best about is my introduction:

The Cellist in this piece is the famous Yo Yo Ma, not to be confused with Yo Ma Ma:

January 05, 2011

Sorry I missed you last night folks. I promise that it won't happen again until the next time. You can take that to the bank, baby.

Verse 15- I'm tempted to just write that verse, ask you to say it one million times and be done for the evening. Jesus is loving you by telling you, in 10 short words, what it means to love Him. If you love me, you will obey what I command. If you love me, you will obey what I command. Again, the reverse is true. If you don't love me, you won't obey what I command. This verse clears the table for you. It clarifies things for you. He's loving us with this verse. He's not saying He won't love you, if you don't obey Him but it will be a very different kind of relationship.

He wants me to love Him but if my understanding of Jesus is that He is a God that I don't have to obey, then I don't have faith in Jesus. Not this Jesus. If I love Jesus on my terms then I don't know Jesus the way He demands that He must be known. I am worshiping someone else. If I say I am worshiping Jesus but only on my terms, then I am actually worshiping me. I should form my own religion and call it Joeyanity. Now if you would like to join my religion, I suggest that you start tithing immediately. If I am too busy or too lazy to do whatever it is I know Jesus wants me to do, I don't love Him. Period.

Verse 15 and 16 should be one sentence. It's not "I will ask the Father, and He will give you the Counselor(Holy Spirit)." It's "obey what I command AND I will give you the Holy Spirit." We sometimes put the cart before the horse. We greatly desire the Holy Spirit but aren't as concerned about obeying. I assure you, if you love and obey Christ, the Holy Spirit will be given you when you ask.

Verse 17- Remember, Jesus described Himself as the light. That means that the Holy Spirit is also the light. Jesus said he was "the way, the truth and the life." He is the truth. The Holy Spirit is His Spirit. So he calls the Holy Spirit, "the Spirit of Truth." When Jesus leaves and the Spirit comes, the world won't accept the Spirit either because it is still in darkness. Verse 17 says that right now, the Spirit is only WITH you but Jesus is pointing to the time when the Spirit will be IN them. That explains why right now, these disciples are a bunch of confused cowards but when the Spirit gets IN them, they are beyond courageous and are able to literally change the world forever.

Verse 21-Again, if you are one who likes Tattoos, might I suggest John 14:21:

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

DO I LOVE HIM!!??

Verse 23 and 24- Here is a helpful hint; If Jesus says virtually the same thing, over and over, it's probably fairly important. Need to roll around in these verses and ask ourselves some questions. Don't be afraid of the answer. That's God knocking, let Him in.

Verse 26- This is a verse that let's me know that everything I am reading in the Gospels is right and true. It is a cornerstone verse for anyone who desires to truly study the Bible.

Verse 30- The "prince of this world", that's the devil. It seems that He believes that He is actually gonna win by having Jesus killed. He is supposed to be so smart. Maybe He knows that He will lose but His blood lust is so great and His hatred for God so total, that He can't give up an opportunity to brutalize God's son. Hard to understand.

Verse 31- The world must know what obedience, motivated by love, is. I've heard people say, "I love you to death." Jesus really means it.

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you.26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.“Come now; let us leave.

January 03, 2011

Of my top ten favorite verses in the Bible, two are in this chapter. Number one is definitely Philippians 1:6 but running a close second is John 14:6. John 14:21 is probably about number 7 but that verse has a very good quarterback coming back so I look for it to move into the top 5 next year.

Jesus has just told the disciples that He is going away and that where he is going, they can't come. Not yet. They are finally beginning to understand this and are becoming quite sad about it. I don't know what to compare this to. Kid's going away to college? You can still talk to them and see them from time to time. Maybe someone with a terminal disease and saying the last goodbyes to them? Maybe. But think for a minute about the last 3 years they'd spent together and now it's over?

Verses 2 and 3 is a promise to them and to us. He took 6 days to create the Universe. He's been preparing a place for us for 2000 years. Can't wait to see it but mostly, I can't wait to see Him.

Verse 4- Jesus tells them that they know the way to where He is going. Thomas doesn't understand and so Jesus answers Him with perhaps the most controversial statement ever spoken. It is the phrase that when repeated by Christians brings accusations of arrogance, ignorance, intolerance and hate. But Jesus said it:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Why does that phrase bring these accusations? Well because it means that Joseph Smith(Mormons), Buddha and Mohammed were all liars. It means Judaism is wrong. It means Atheism, Scientology and Universalism are all leading people to a place other than Heaven. Who am I to say that? I just said that billions of people who think they are going to heaven, aren't. Well Jesus said it? So the question should be, who am I NOT to say it?

But that's not fair. What about the poor little Muslim children that are born into that faith and who risk life and limb(literally) if they decide, when they are older, to leave that faith. What about them? Do you have an answer for them?

No. But, without sounding flippant or uncaring, it's not my problem. It's Jesus' problem and I have a great deal of confidence that He knows what He is doing and will handle it...perfectly.

Verse 8- Philip makes the statement, "Lord show us the Father and that will be enough." And for the final time but clearer than ever before, Jesus explains that He and the Father are one. Jesus is saying that if God the Father came to earth in human form, he would be me. Well God did come in human form and I(Jesus) am that form. Jesus asks, "Don't you know me Philip, even after three years? Even after all these miracles? The miracles were for your benefit. That you would see the miracles and would then know who I am... PHILIP!! I...AM...GOD."

Verses 12 thru 14- Tough verses to understand. Anyone who has faith in him will do even greater things than He?! Well Peter, John and Paul are all recorded as having raised people from the dead. And certainly Paul was responsible for probably thousands of more conversions to the faith than Jesus. He is responsible for bringing the faith from Jerusalem, through East Asia and on into Europe through Rome. But what about today? Well Billy Graham is responsible for seeing thousands more conversions to the faith than Paul. As are Greg Laurie, Billy Sunday, Charles Finney and George Whitefield.

But what about miracles today. Did Jesus mean miracles, too? He says anyone who has faith in Him will do greater things than He and He says this in the sentence that follows Him talking about miracles. If that is true, where are the miracles today? I know some happen today but not like then. I don't know. I have a video at the bottom where John Piper addresses this. He pretty much says that when God was first forming Christianity, He gave the Apostles miraculous powers to "Authenticate" their message. That is, to show that what they were preaching was true. God endorsed the message through miracles, so to speak. I hope John Piper is right but I wonder. Is there any faith today like that of Paul or John or Peter? The question might not be "Where are the miracles?" but "Where is the faith?"

Finally, Verses 13 and 14- Ask Jesus anything in His name and He will do it. Anyone here ask for things in Jesus name? Has He always done it? Does He at least do it often? No? Well then, is He a liar?

No, He's not? All of these men that He is talking to are about 43-44 days from being filled with the Holy Spirit. After that moment, they are truly willing and able to surrender all. All fear, all doubt, all possessions, all family ties, all they used to know, EVERYTHING! They then and only then, became people who prayed in accordance with the will of God because they no longer had a will of their own. And God answers prayers from those kinds of people.

I'm not there yet. It is verses like those(John 14:12-14), that are what you could call transforming verses. It's verses like this that let me know that Jesus still has a lot of transforming to do in my life.

Romans 12:2- Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

January 02, 2011

Jesus gets sad in a few hours, as He prays alone in the garden before they come to arrest Him. There aren't many other times where it is recorded that he gets "troubled in spirit". The only times I can remember off the top of my head are the time when Mary and Martha are so upset because Lazarus is dead and here, when he shares that one of them, Judas, will betray Him. I think I like this very much. I like that Jesus is hurt when He is betrayed. I like that my obeying Him, my trusting him, my loyalty to Him and my friendship means so much to Him. It's easier to obey someone who treasures my obedience so much.

The "Judas" type is not rare. Selling Jesus for money is not rare. Hearing the words of Jesus and them not having an affect is not rare. Often, I have been like Judas. Judas probably saw Jesus do hundreds of miracles. The last verse of the Gospel of John seems to state that most of Jesus' miracles weren't recorded:

John 21:25- Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

So Judas saw all of these miracles and He heard the most spellbinding, amazing sermons that have ever been spoken. He probably bathed with Jesus in the Jordan River and probably joked and told stories around campfires with Him. Judas probably thought that His experience was the same as James, John, Andrew, Peter and all the other disciples, especially in the first 2 of the 3 years of Jesus' ministry. But something began to happen to Judas, in that last year. Not sure what it was. Might have been jealousy. John, Peter and James seemed to be the ones that were becoming the leaders of the rest. They were the ones Jesus would bring with Him like on the mount of transfiguration, for example. Judas may have felt jealousy over that.

It could have been the way they were living. The hard life of constant travel, strife and threats from the Jewish leaders. They were poor. Judas, when he first began to follow Jesus, may have been attracted to Him because of Jesus' claim to be the Eternal King of the Jews. He initially thought, as did the others, that He was going to immediately institute a new Kingdom with Jesus as it's head. Judas wanted to be a part of that for sure. But the years of poverty, the years of hard work and the growing understanding that Judas' idea of King and Jesus' idea of King were quite different, eventually caused Judas' to start looking around for a better deal. He knew of the power of the Sanhedrin and he probably began to gather that they were going to kill Jesus and not be too happy with anyone that may have been a part of Jesus' crew. His move was probably more about self preservation than anything else. He was not willing to decrease so that Jesus might increase. He didn't believe that Jesus was who HE said He was. Like I said, not all that rare.

Verse 23- The "disciple whom Jesus loved" is John.

Verse 27- There is Satan again. Satan entered Judas, because He was able. Judas was ready to be entered by Satan because He hadn't committed himself to Jesus. That is always how it works and it is as common today as it was then. Judas didn't know Satan was in him but he was in him just the same. Even after 3 years with Jesus. Don't flirt with Jesus.

Verses 37 and 38- Beloved Peter again. All will not fight for you Jesus but I will. I will give my life for you. I love you more than everyone else. I am different. I am special compared to these others. We so often think our way is best, that we are the most forgiving, or most righteous, or most humble but Jesus will be the judge of that. Jesus will show you just how dark you are, my friend. Peter couldn't have been more wrong about himself. Again, after being with Jesus for 3 years, he didn't have the remotest clue about himself. We are ridiculous, prideful little creatures. In a few hours, mighty Peter will be afraid to tell a little girl that He is with Jesus. But Peter will finally learn and Jesus will restore Him but only after Peter, finally, learns to despise his own understanding and learns to trust Jesus. Yay Peter!

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly,” Jesus told him, 28 but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. 31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

January 01, 2011

Recently our pastor, Kendell Hicks, preached through a great series on the spiritual gifts based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-14. His theme was the unity of the Spirit in a church and the necessity of each gift. Pastors always have to stress this, that every gift is important, because so many people feel they are gifted in the "more important" gifts like pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophecy, healing, tongues, etc. but seldom do people recognize in themselves gifts like faith, mercy, exhortation, giving or the one that Jesus is going to model for us tonight; service. It makes sense that if the Holy Spirit is gifting a church that there is going to be a healthy mixture of these gifts, yes? I mean if the church begins with 30 people and 29 have the gift of healing they will be physically healthy but not spiritually.

Hopefully, after "hearing" Jesus teach us about service, we will realize that no gift is beneath us and no gift, if Jesus through the Holy Spirit has given it to us, is not of absolute importance.

Verse 2- Always want to point out to you the devil, because he is in your house right now. And at work. And at school. And in the checkout line. And at your church. One of these days, I am going to do a five or six part series on him and if you "hear it" you will never feel the same way about him again.

The Jews had a punishment where they "whipped" someone 40 times, minus 1. That's 39 lashes. They did it this way, so they could say they were showing mercy and making sure they were not breaking the Jewish law that the beating shall not go over 40. When they actually applied this beating, they would stop after 13 strokes to check the person whipped. It was a big Jewish no-no, to have this victim die on them but the whipping was so incredibly painful and "shocking" to the system, that it could kill a person. So every 13 strokes they would stop and check the victim. Usually, they were checking if the victim had lost control of their bowels; that is, pooped themselves. People often lose control like this, right before they die, and almost always if it is a slow yet violent death. So I say all this to say that the Jewish whipping was brutal but was often stopped after only 13 strokes. Not so, with the Roman form of whipping, called scourging.

On scourging, I will be brief. You've all seen The Passion when Jesus was tied to the whipping post. I was going to link you to a scene of the whipping but looked at a few and would just rather not. You can go if you like. I'll just say that it is the most accurate ever seen on film but there are a few inaccuracies. Jesus was naked. The soldiers doing the beating were probably more professional as they were called Lictors, which is an actual title given those that carried out the punishments meted out by Rome. And this beating that was applied before Roman crucifixion was designed to get the "prisoner" so close to death that he wouldn't be up very long on the cross before death came. It was actually nicknamed the "Half death" because so many did die during the whipping. One other inaccuracy in the scourging scenes is some of the Mary, "Mother of God" stuff that was probably due to Mel Gibson's Catholic roots.

Jesus surely saw dead men and those nearly dead hanging on crosses at a very early age. It says in Luke 2:41-52 that He and His family went to Jerusalem every year. Crucifixion was designed to be a deterrent to crime by showing others what happens to criminals if they break Roman laws. So in Jerusalem, crucifixions were done just outside of town, usually on a hill overlooking roads that entered the city for all to see. Quite a warning. I guess we have come a long way from public forms of physical punishment to the sign on the left. But I bet there is a lot more crime today.

Anyway, Jesus probably passed quite close to these criminals on perhaps quite a few occasions. Close enough to see the nails in the wrist and ankles. Close enough to hear the painful wailing. He probably also understood what happened during a scourging, if not the Roman type, he would have known in detail about the Jewish form. And he would have heard that the Roman method was far worse. We often say that Jesus knew what He was getting ready to go through and still faced it willingly. But I think we sometimes think that He knew what He was about to endure because He was God and God knows everything. I don't think so. I think He knew it the same way you or I would have known it. He'd seen it. He'd heard it. He'd smelled it.

I have gone into detail about all this gruesomeness for a reason. Jesus is getting ready to have an intimate supper with a group of men that He loved dearly. John records 5 Chapters of nothing but Jesus teaching these men(Chapters 13-17) and pouring His love and wisdom into them. All the while, He knows that He is within 12 hours of this brutal whipping and a gruesome death on a Roman cross. I can't get my head around that. Can you? If I had minor surgery the next day, I would have been a mess but He is not only doing His Father's will to the very last but in a kind, loving and very calm way. That is stunning. It might be the most incredible thing in the entire Book of John for me.

I'll hit a few specific verses before we are done.

Verses 4 and 5 don't need much illumination. The lesson is, as Jesus says a few verses down, If Jesus is serving you then you should serve each other. Servant leadership is what they call it today.

Verses 6 thru 8. The character of me and you, the self righteous "Christian", is played by Peter. "Lord, I am such a humble creature compared to you. I can't let you wash my feet." He says this after watching all His friends get washed without objection. So to appear the most humble of all, he objects. But there is nasty pride here. Peter is telling Jesus that what he is doing is wrong. He can't see Himself this way yet but boy will he.

1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you al9 so should wash one another’s feet.15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them

December 30, 2010

Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. It all started with a car jacking. My car. Getting jacked. Or so I thought. I usually get a cup of coffee on the way to work each morning. I had to find a place that is open before 6:00 a.m. to get it but I have found just such a place. It is not far out of the way of my normal drive to work but it is in kind of a rough part of town. Well, a few days before Christmas, I pulled into a parking lot at this store and I was met by a big dude with a big gun pointed right at my face. He told me to get out of the car and walk behind the store. I went. Scared to death. When we got back there, he placed the barrel directly above my nose and between my eyes.

I recognized this guy. I had actually seen him a few times at our church. I believe that I actually spoke to Him a time or two but couldn't remember his name. For the sake of this story and because of that big ole gun he was pointing at my face, we'll call him Dirty Harry.

I asked Dirty Harry, "Well then what do you want?" He then said words that shocked me, "I want you to deny Christ."

"What? What do you mean?" I stuttered. "You know exactly what I mean," he hissed. "I want you to look straight into my eyes and say that you don't believe in Jesus Christ. If you don't, I am going to put a bullet in your brain."

I closed my eyes. I prayed silently, "Lord help me. I can't do what he's asking. GIVE ME STRENGTH!" Suddenly a calmness came over me and with my eyes still closed, I saw a quick vision of a flame and a viciously beaten, unrecognizable and bloody mess of a man on a cross. Don't know what that was but I was suddenly ready. I slowly opened my eyes. My eyes found his and I said very clearly and confidently, "Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is the Savior of the World."

He suddenly grabbed me by the back of the neck and whispered angrily in my ear,"Don't give me that crap. Open your mouth." Didn't know what that meant but figured he wanted me to open my mouth and say the words he had commanded. When he let go of my neck and stood back in front of me, he pointed the gun between my feet and fired. It was a deafening roar that echoed through the quiet parking lot. It scared me to death and left about a six inch wide hole in the ground, just about an inch from the bottom of my big toe.

I looked down at the hole and saw it suddenly fill with a slightly foamy, clear liquid. I suddenly realized that I had wet my pants. My legs then buckled and I guess I began to faint but this big man grabbed my shirt, along with a few chest hairs and pushed me hard against the wall. He then repeated his request, "Open your mouth." I did and he put the gun barrel in my mouth. I felt it, or I actually felt the gun sight at the front tip of the barrel, push hard into the back/top of my mouth. I actually heard it bang against my "molars" or whatever you call the teeth towards the back. He then said, "You get one more chance. Are you gonna deny Him, yes or no?" Weakly but surely, I shook my head no. I then closed my eyes, silently asked the Lord to take care of my family and waited for an explosion and then, death.

Suddenly, he pulled the gun out of my mouth, let go of my shirt and backed a step or two away. Then, in his normal voice he said, "Mr. Smith, I am terribly sorry but I want to talk to someone about Jesus and I have heard a lot of Bull(squat) talk from a lot of bull(squat) religious people and this time I had to be sure that I was talking to a true believer. Would you PLEASE forgive me and talk to me about Him?"

I stood there and blinked at him a few times. I then took one quick step forward and then kicked him in his forbidden zone with the tip of my steel-toed work boot. As he doubled over from the intense pain and let out a loud cry, I hit him with a vicious right cross that landed about halfway between his left ear and the tip of his chin. He and the gun hit the ground hard. I then jumped over his body, standing with one foot on either side of his head. I then bent down and began lightly slapping his face, because he was a little woozy from the punch. I said, "Hey. HEY!! You dumb jerk. Can you hear me?" He shook his head yes. I then said, "I've got to go home and change my pants and I am already late for work because of your dumb little trick. But if you really want to talk, meet me at 5:00 at the Old Dunkin' Donuts. I'm not gonna tell the cops about this unless you don't show. Hear me? Do you UNDERSTAND what I just said!?

He managed to whisper a very painful "Yes sir, thank you."

So I left him there. I ran to the car and headed home. On the way, it suddenly hit me that I had not denied my Savior in what I knew would be the worst moment of my entire life. I fell apart. I had to pull over into the Sonic parking lot in the pitch black dark so as not to endanger the other drivers on the road. I then proceeded to have a big, fat Cry/Praise-a-thon. Glorious!!

I want tell you any more but I will tell you that Dirty Harry received Christ that day at about, Ohhh, 6:20 PM while drinking coffee and eating nasty donuts with a true Christian whose authenticity he had tested himself.

And one more thing I will tell you and that is that, of course, this story is not true.

Tomorrow we will begin Chapter 13 and that is the chapter in which Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times. We kind of give ole Pete a hard time about that sometimes but I really believe that if Peter had been "Me" in the above story, he would not have denied Christ either. After all, just maybe an hour or so before he denied Christ three times, when the guards first came to arrest Jesus, Peter pulled a sword and sliced off the ear of one of the guards. He would have kept swinging that sword too, if Jesus hadn't stopped him. But later in the night, while Jesus was inside being interrogated by the religious officers, Peter snuck into the outside courtyard to try and see if he could hear what was going on inside. He was straining to hear without revealing his interest, he was fretting over Jesus and what might happen to Him and was caught off guard when He was first asked, "Aren't you one of His?"

After the first denial, the next two came in quick succession. Immediately the cock crowed and Jesus suddenly turned His head away from His accusers and looked at His beloved friend. Both of their hearts were broken. Jesus then headed to the cross and Peter headed to the countryside alone to experience heartbreak that I can't even imagine.

I'd like to tell you another, much more believable, personal story. It won't be long at all. I promise.

Today I woke up in a bad mood. Something set me off and I yelled at my wife. I stopped to get my coffee on the way to work and flirted with Miss Prettylittlething at check out because she was wearing a plunging neckline thingy. Hey, I'm a man. I couldn't resist. I thought about her the first hour of work and told one of my work buddies about her. He said he knew some delicious stories about her. He told me a few and I gobbled them up. That led to a few sly little sex jokes that I laughed uproariously at even when the boy whose salvation I had been praying for, walked up. He joined the fun with a few jokes of his own. Pretty funny stuff really.

Then during the rest of the day, with all this talking and laughing during work, I realized that I had made a few bad parts on my machine. I make thousands of these parts a day, so I knew that I could hide the bad parts with the good and nobody would ever know. Problem solved. Then at lunch, I felt guilty about yelling at my wife, so I called her to apologize. But her attitude didn't seem to lighten much after my apology, so I ended up hanging up on her. The weekends are when me and her have our "ALONE" time with each other if you get my drift. That's the real reason I had tried to apologize anyway. Now I even messed that up and would experience a somewhat different meaning of "alone."

When I got home that evening, the phone rang and Cheryl answered it. She then came into the room I was in and whispered to me that Mr. Bob Somewhatcranky was on the line from the church wanting to know if He could take me out to dinner to discuss some church issues. I whispered back to her that she should tell him that I wasn't home and you didn't know when I would be home and that my cell phone was broke and that I had an emergency at work that might last all night or maybe even all weekend and not to ride by work to see me because even though my car wasn't at work, I was and I was too busy to stop and talk to him for even one second. But also be sure to tell him how I will be so upset when I find out that I missed his call. She did it, too. She told a little, teeny, white lie for me. God bless her.

I then walked into my study and found myself staring at my Bible...again. This time it actually spoke to me. It said, "You know I am the Word of Almighty God, right?" I went over and wrote on the Bible with my finger, you know the way you write on a dusty car windshield that hasn't been touched in a while. On my Bible, I wrote on the dusty leather book cover the words "Soon Lord" and I actually believed it. It made me feel much better, too.

That night I stayed up late after everyone else went to bed and found myself surfing through some of the "Bad" channels. Not to see any nekkidness(that means naked, yankee), mind you. Just looking for a decent movie. But dang wouldn't you know, Angelina Jolie suddenly passed by and she was nekkid. I kept going but then it suddenly hit me that my wife was not real happy with me so I probably "deserved" to see a little bit of nekkidicity. After all, I'm only human and a MAN human at that. I couldn't resist.

So let's see, Peter denied Jesus 3 times on his worst day. I denied him what, 12-15-20 times and it was just a normal, average, nothing special day.

Only one thing in either of these "stories" about "me" is true and that is:

December 29, 2010

Verse 31-Now is the time for Judgement of this world- Jesus is dying on the cross as a judgement for our sins, all of our sins, the sins of the world. If I ever think that my sin isn't a big deal, I look at the cross. If I ever get a bad break and think that Jesus doesn't care or doesn't love me, I look at the cross. I have settled in my mind forever, that Jesus loves me, because of the cross.

The prince of this world is Satan himself. This world, the world that you see and experience everyday, is currently ruled by Satan. Think about that. Understanding that will unlock a lot of truths for you. Jesus will not drive out Satan totally until He returns but the cross is the beginning of that process.

Verse 32 is sometimes misinterpreted to mean everyone will be saved but this is one of those verses that must be further explained elsewhere in the Bible. Universalists preach that all will be saved but that can't be true if Matthew 7:13-14 is also true. Jesus speaking:

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

What most commentators believe Jesus means and what the Bible itself teaches that this means is that Jesus is not just the Jewish Messiah or Savior but the Savior of the whole world. Men(human beings) from ALL nations, all races, all cultures will now be drawn to Christ once He is literally lifted up on the cross. They must just look to Him and His horrible/wonderful cross and believe.

In verses 35-36 Jesus again goes back to His description of Himself as THE light in this dark world. Is this world not dark, even today? He is the light and if we believe in Him we are "Sons of Light".

1st John:6-7- If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from allsin.

What is the darkness I walk in now? If he doesn't let me know, if he doesn't shine the light, I won't even realize that I am walking in darkness. Kinda scary but scary kinda forces me to cling to Him. A good thing.

Verse 37-Even now, after 3 years of miracles and perfect teaching, most of the Jews did not believe. In Verse 38 and 40, Isaiah, writing 600 years earlier, explains why. God has hardened their hearts to Jesus' message.

Voice in my head: HEY!! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!

Me: OK, well Jesus had to be rejected by the Jews before he could offer Salvation to the Gentiles. That's me and you, baby.

Voice: But why? It's Jesus. He can do it however he wants.

Me: You just said it.

Voice: Said WHAT!?

Me: It's Jesus. He can do it however He wants.

Voice: Alrighty then....Well played.

Me: Thank you

Verse 47 and then we are done. Again Jesus is saying he didn't come (this time) to judge the world. Judgement was passed on the world long ago, during the time of Adam. Jesus has come to save FROM this judgement on sin and that judgement is DEATH. The second judgement, the one where Jesus DOES judge the world (Book of Revelation) is just a judgement on all those that wouldn't except Jesus saving us during this visit, His first visit that ended with the cross.

28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. 37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40 “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.47“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.

More Johnny P. below. This is on John 3:16-21 but is explaining my darkness and Jesus light as only he can. Spectacular!

December 28, 2010

For those of you that went to Sunday school when you were a kid, what is happening in today's scripture reading, is what we used to celebrate as Palm Sunday. You probably got a little cross made of palm leaves with a pin for attaching it to your lapel or pretty little dress.

Hosanna comes from a Hebrew word Hoshana meaning please save or save now. Here it means that the one who will save us is here. The Saver or Savior is here. The quote in verse 15 is from the Old Testament book written by the prophet of the same name, Zechariah. It was written some 550 years before Jesus is riding this donkey into Jerusalem.

Verse 19 is another verse that reveals the true heart of the Jewish leaders. No concern but that He is becoming greater, in the people's eyes, than they are.

Verses 25 and 26 are two very important verses. These are two clarification verses. I call them that because these are so tough and if you don't study this MAN and the things He actually said, you will be fooled. Hating your life means that if anything gets between you and Jesus, you must hate it. Hate it enough to get rid of it, to kill it, so to speak. I think I've already used this quote in this study but it is worth another look:

“Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. … Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’” -C. S Lewis, baby.

Jesus means the natural self, your life, even the stuff you think is OK, He wants it gone. He hates it and He wants you to hate it, so that together, you can kill it. Get rid of it. I say together because He is not gonna get rid of it is against your will. And your will, is another way of saying your natural self or your life. The Lord's Prayer says, Thy will be done, not mine. Verse 26 is a "the reverse is also true" statement. In other words my Father will not honor the one who does not serve me. That's tough but Jesus is the King of tough love. He really wants you; ALL of you.

I love verse 27 because Jesus is troubled. He is scared of the horrible pain He is getting ready to go through. It makes it easier for me to serve Him, knowing He is scared of suffering in this way. But He came here to suffer on our behalf, cause He loves us. Isaiah 53 is a great and short read, a prophecy of Jesus, the suffering Messiah.

I think I'll stop here tonight because I really want you to go read Isaiah 53 and I really want you to spend a moment on verses 25-26 below and ask yourself some questions. It's not a bad thing to admit yucky truths about yourself, especially when it is Jesus' words in scripture that are pointing this out for you. It's the only way to grow the way Jesus wants us to grow.

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,

15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

John Piper is the king of American Pastors and he lived in Anderson for a while when he was a youngin'. You can safely soak yourself in his teachings. You can get there at the top right of Cup A Joe.